Monthly Review: February 2007

This monthly review goes out to the leadership of AGI's member
societies, members of the AGI Government Affairs Advisory Committee,
and other interested geoscientists as part of a continuing effort
to improve communications between GAP and the geoscience community
that it serves.

Join us for the 12th annual Congressional Visits Day (CVD) on May
1-2, 2007. This two-day annual event brings scientists, engineers,
researchers, educators, and technology executives to Washington to
raise visibility and support for science, engineering, and technology.
Participants will spend the first day learning about how Congress
works, the current state of the budget process and how to conduct
congressional visits. The second day will consist of visits with members
of Congress. In addition to the workshops and visits, participants
will get to meet other scientists and engineers, meet federal science
agency representatives and attend a reception and breakfasts at which
members of Congress will speak and meet with the audience.

Please consider participating in these visits and plan early to come
to Washington DC. Many scientific societies are involved in CVD, including
several of AGI's Member Societies. The American Association of Petroleum
Geologists, the American Geophysical Union, the Geological Society
of America and the Soil Science Society of America are very active
participating societies in CVD and can help coordinate your visits.
In addition, these societies and AGI will coordinate some geoscience
activities on May 1.

Individuals interested in participating should contact the Government
Affairs Program at govt@agiweb.org.

2. Congressional
Cornucopia: Climate Change Aplenty

Congress continued to hold hearings on climate change in both chambers
and across many different committees. Geoscientists were key witnesses
in many hearings. Perhaps the most provocative and interesting hearing
was the February 8th overview of one part of the findings of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Fourth Assessment Report. The House
Science and Technology Committee invited four co-authors of the IPCC's
summary for policy makers of the first volume of the report, titled
"Climate Change 2007:
The Physical Science Basis" to testify. In an unusual twist,
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was the first witness and she offered
strong support for the findings of the IPCC policy summary. Later
on in the hearing, NOAA atmospheric scientist Susan Solomon got into
a terse conversation with Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) about the amount
of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that can be directly attributed
to human influence and Professor Richard Alley delighted the members
with a pancake analogy. An archived
web cast of the hearing is available from the committee web page.
Many more hearings are expected in March, including the testimony
of more geoscientists and the former Vice President Al Gore.

Partially in response to the IPCC report and to the attention of climate
change in Congress, the Senate Republican Policy Committee released
a 10-page primer on climate change for policymakers on February 27.
The primer, entitled "Global
Warming: The Settled Versus the Unsettled Science" states
that there is scientific agreement that greenhouse gas concentrations
in the atmosphere have increased in large part due to fossil fuel
consumption, that Earth's average temperature has risen 1.3 degrees
F over the past century and that carbon dioxide, methane and other
gases exert a warming influence on climate. Beyond these 3 points,
the primer states there is considerable uncertainty. The first two
uncertainties are that it is difficult to determine how much of the
past warming is due to human influence and that it is difficult to
determine whether human activities will have a benign or catastrophic
effect on climate in the future.

Speaker Pelosi has given the House a June 1 deadline for crafting
comprehensive climate change legislation, but Rep. John Dingell (D-MI),
chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and Rep. Rick Boucher
(D-VA), chair of the Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee have requested
more time. In addition to more time, which Speaker Pelosi denied,
the chairmen are also seeking more input from outside organizations.
On February 28, Dingell and Boucher
sent a letter to more than 30 organizations requesting input on
climate change legislation. The letter states "We appreciate
any help you can provide in furthering our understanding of the significant
factual and policy issues involved in the debate concerning potential
congressional action on climate change legislation." The letter
was sent to the AFL-CIO, American Petroleum Institute, U.S. Chamber
of Commerce, American Gas Association, National Wildlife Federation,
Environmental Defense, Coal Research Council, National Petrochemical
& Refiners Association, National Association of Manufacturers,
Alliance of Auto Manufacturers, the Renewable Fuels Association and
others. Groups have until March 19 to respond and the chairmen have
promised to make the responses public.

Congress is not just holding hearings and requesting information about
climate change though. Members have been busy introducing legislation
to address the issue, primarily in the Senate. One piece of legislation
called for a new national assessment and better federal coordination
of climate change research, a bevy of bills address greenhouse gas
reductions and a newly introduced bill calls for a national assessment
of our carbon sequestration capacity.

On February 7, Representative Mark Udall (D-CO) introduced the Global
Change Research and Data Management Act of 2007 (H.R. 906) which would
require the President to "establish an interagency United States
Global Change Research Program to improve understanding of global
change, to respond to the information needs of communities and decision
makers, and to provide periodic assessments of the vulnerability of
the United States and other regions to global change." The bill
would repeal The Global Change Research Act of 1990. The measure would
be intended to explicitly require a national assessment of climate
change research. Currently the Bush Administration is being sued by
the Center for Biological Diversity, Greenpeace and Friends of the
Earth for deciding not to produce a second national climate assessment
in 2005, but instead producing a series of 21 staggered, narrowly
defined reports on climate science. The 1990 law requires the government
to prepare a scientific assessment every four years of current climate
change research and the groups in the lawsuit contend that the Administration
is in violation of this requirement.

Udall's measure would also form a working group that would include
the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration,
the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Defense, the Director of
the National Science Foundation, the Director of the United States
Geological Survey, the Archivist of the United States, the Administrator
of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Secretary of the Smithsonian
Institution, or their designees, and representatives of any other
Federal agencies the President considers appropriate.

By the end of February, the following 7 measures to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions were introduced in Congress and are being compared by
members and outside stakeholders: 1. Climate Stewardship and Innovation
Act (S.280) from lead co-sponsors Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT)
and Senator John McCain (R-AZ), 2. Global Warming Pollution Reduction
Act (S.309) from lead co-sponsors Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Barbara
Boxer (D-CA), 3. Electric Utility Cap-and-Trade Act (S.317) sponsored
by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Tom Carper (D-DE), 4. Discussion
Draft of Global Warming Legislation sponsored by Senator Jeff Bingaman
(D-NM) and Arlen Specter (R-PA), 5. The Climate Stewardship Act (H.R.
620) led by co-sponsors Rep. John Olver (D-MA) and Rep. Wayne Gilchrest
(R-MD), 6. Global Warming Reduction Act (S.485) led by co-sponsors
Senator John Kerry (D-MA) and Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME), and 7.
National Energy and Environmental Security Act of 2007 (S.6) from
lead co-sponsor, Senator Harry Reid (D-NV). All of these measures
would require implementation of some type of reduction in greenhouse
gas emissions for different sectors of the U.S. economy, including
in some cases the use of carbon sequestration.

A new and different bill, introduced on March 1, would address the
capacity for carbon sequestration in the U.S. The National Carbon
Dioxide Storage Capacity Assessment Act of 2007 was introduced in
the Senate and the House. Cosponsors for the Senate bill, S. 731,
include Senators Ken Salazar (D-CO), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Jim Webb
(D-VA), Jon Tester (D-MT) and Jim Bunning (R-KY), while in the House,
Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN) is the lead sponsor of a companion version,
H.R. 1267. Both bills task the U.S. Geological Survey, the Energy
Department and the Environmental Protection Agency with calculating
storage capacity in all 50 states and the risks associated with sequestration,
as well as estimating potential volumes of oil and gas that could
be recovered after carbon injections.

Like the climate change debate, the 110th Congress is also keenly
focused on energy policy and in many cases the two are intimately
coupled in discussions and proposed legislation. Congress held multiple
hearings across many different committees about energy policy and
considered measures to diversify the nation's energy portfolio, improve
efficiency and conservation, reduce the nation's demand for imported
fossil fuel products, reduce the environmental impacts of energy use,
improve global energy security and enhance research and development
to meet future energy needs. Many of these measures will require geoscientific
information and help from geoscientists and engineers working in applied
geoscience fields.

Among the many energy hearings, the House Appropriations, Subcommittee
on Energy and Water Development February 28 hearing on "A Ten
Year Energy Outlook" was particularly informative. Guy Caruso,
the Energy Information Administrator was the first witness and he
reviewed the recently released Annual
Energy Outlook, 2007. After summarizing some pessimistic numbers
about future energy demands, he told the committee he wanted to end
his testimony on "a note of optimism" which drew faint laughter.
He then noted that EIA's energy outlook in the 1970s had projected
energy use in 2006 that was at least 50% off the mark, so future projections
for 2030 might also be too high. Caruso was followed by Jim Wells,
Director of Natural Resources and Environment at the Government Accountability
Office (GAO). Wells was very pessimistic as he presented the results
of a GAO report entitled "Key Challenges
Remain for Developing and Deploying Advanced Energy Technologies to
Meet Future Needs". He indicated that the Energy Department's
research and development (R&D) has been a failure since 1978 because
the nation has not reduced its dependence on fossil fuels by any significant
fraction. He concluded that cheap energy is now gone and the future
will be "unsettling" for consumers.

The second panel of 6 witnesses focused on a ten year outlook for
energy R&D. All of the witnesses agreed that the federal government
and the private sector in the U.S. was not spending enough on R&D.
They also agreed that the U.S. needs to consider a diverse energy
portfolio to meet future demand and that all energy resources should
be adequately supported with R&D funds because all of these resources
will be needed now and in the future. Professor Daniel Kammen from
the University of California, Berkeley documented a disturbing decrease
in energy R&D spending by the government and the private sector.
He noted that the U.S. invests about $1 billion less in energy R&D
than it did a decade ago. All of the representatives who attended
the hearing, including the Chairman Peter Visclosky (D-IN) and Ranking
Member David Hobson (R-OH) agreed that energy R&D spending should
be increased and their committee would like to support appropriate
increases for energy R&D.

On February 13, Senate bill S. 39, entitled "Ocean and Coastal
Exploration and NOAA Act (OCEAN Act)" was approved by the Senate
Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. The measure, if
successful in the full Senate and House, would authorize the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in concert with the
National Science Foundation, the U.S. Geological Survey and other
agencies, to spend $486 million over 10 years on a coordinated program
with a focus on deep sea regions research, the location of historic
shipwrecks and submerged sites, and public education programs. An
amendment to the bill would also require NOAA to study and evaluate
U.S. coastal resources, with a focus on wave, current, tidal and biological
resources in the coastal areas.

In addition, S. 39 also authorizes $278 million for an undersea research
program to establish a national undersea research center and research
projects on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. Another $296 million
would fund a coordinated effort to map federal coastlines, the Exclusive
Economic Zone, the outer continental shelf, other territorial waters
and the Great Lakes, as well as three joint hydrographic centers to
aid the mapping project.

On February 28, the House Science and Technology Committee passed
four bills that would help the U.S. maintain a competitive advantage
in science and technology. The "Sowing the Seeds Through Science
and Engineering Research Act", (H.R. 363) would require the National
Science Foundation (NSF) and the Office of Science within the Department
of Energy (DOE) to award grants to scientists and engineers at the
early stage of their careers at institutions of higher education and
certain research organizations, such as museums, observatories, or
research laboratories. NSF would be required to allocate 3.5% of its
Research and Related Activities per year for the early career awards
and 1.5% of its Research and Related Activities per year for graduate
education and research traineeship awards. DOE would be authorized
to receive as much as $25 million per year to pay for its early career
grants. The programs would run for a 5 year period from 2008 to 2012.

The measure also authorizes a National Coordination Office for Research
Infrastructure to be organized by the White House Office of Science
and Technology Policy to report on deficiencies and priorities in
research facilities and major instrumentation at academic and national
laboratories. The original bill had contained authorization for billions
of dollars over 5 years for basic research in science, mathematics,
computing and engineering at federal agencies, however, that language
was removed from the bill to help ensure its passage through the committee
and hopefully ease its passage through the full House and then the
Senate.

The Energy Technology Transfer Act (H.R. 85) would amend the Energy
Policy Act of 2005 to direct the Secretary of Energy to award grants
for a five-year period to nonprofit institutions, state and local
governments, cooperative extension services, or universities (or consortia
thereof) to establish a geographically dispersed network of Advanced
Energy Technology Transfer Centers, located in areas the Secretary
determines have the greatest need of their services. The centers would
encourage demonstration and commercial application of advanced energy
methods and technologies.

House bill, H.R. 1068 would revise the High-Performance Computing
Act of 1991 (Public Law 102-194) and require the Office of Science
and Technology Policy to "draw a road map" for developing
and deploying high-powered computing systems for the nation's research
community.

House bill, H.R. 1126, would reauthorize the Steel and Aluminum Energy
Conservation and Technology Competitiveness Act of 1988 (Public Law
100-680). The measure would authorize $12 million per year for five
years to support advanced metals research. The federal funds, along
with funds from the steel industry, would support metals research
at U.S. universities.

Since 2002, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act has been the cornerstone
of federal K-12 education policy. Within NCLB, the primary effect
on Earth science education has been the establishment of Math and
Science Partnerships in the Department of Education and the National
Science Foundation (NSF). NCLB also requires that states begin assessing
science proficiency in the 2007-2008 school year. With this requirement,
states have the opportunity to set standards, determine curricula
and review education programs. This is also a time for the Earth science
community to advocate for and explain the value of Earth science in
curricula, testing and standards. NCLB, the Higher Education Act (HEA)
- which focuses on federal student aid, contains scholarship and loan
relief provisions for math and science students and teachers, and
NSF are all up for re-authorization in fiscal year 2008. Congress
is likely to consider their overlapping objectives in crafting any
changes to these programs. A number of education initiatives have
also been proposed as part of a new focus in Congress and the White
House on innovation and U.S. competitiveness.

With this backdrop on science education legislation, a bipartisan
task force presented more than 70 recommendations for improving NCLB
to members of the House Education and Labor Committee on February
13, 2007. The task force recommended more tests and standards for
students, new requirements for teachers, requirements for schools
to maintain databases of student progress, and new requirements to
measure the performance of principals against the performance of their
students.

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) has added
a new panel focused on energy and renewables to the Agriculture Committee.
Dubbed the "Energy, Science and Technology" panel, the new
subcommittee will be led by Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Senator
John Thune (R-SD), who are both biofuel advocates. According to a
statement by Senator Harkin in an E&E Special Report, the panel's
focus will include renewable energy production, energy efficiency
improvement on farms and ranches, research, and new uses for agricultural
commodities.

NASA announced on February 12 that Dr. S. Alan Stern will be replacing
Dr. Mary L. Cleave as the agency's associate administrator for the
Science Mission Directorate in April. Dr. Cleave, who has served as
the associate administrator since fall 2005, announced her retirement
in the fall of last year.

Dr. Stern, a planetary scientist with a doctoral degree in astrophysics
and planetary science from the University of Colorado at Boulder,
will be joining NASA from the Southwest Research Institute's Space
Sciences and Engineering Divisions, Boulder, Colorado. As chief executive
of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Stern will oversee research
and scientific exploration programs for Earth studies, space weather,
the solar system and the universe beyond. He will also manage a broad
spectrum of grant-based research programs and spacecraft projects
to study Earth and the universe.

In February, 15 people, including several seismologists and geotechnical
engineers, were named to the new National Earthquake Hazards Reduction
Program (NEHRP) Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction
(ACEHR). Established by the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977,
NEHRP is the federal government's program to reduce the risks to life
and property from earthquakes. NEHRP consists of four federal agencies:
the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the National Science
Foundation (NSF), the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the
National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST). Congress designated
NIST as the lead agency for NEHRP in 2004.

The responsibilities of the new independent advisory committee include
assessing: (1) trends and developments in the science and engineering
of earthquake hazards reduction;
(2) the effectiveness of NEHRP in performing its statutory activities
(improved design and construction methods and practices; land use
controls and redevelopment; prediction techniques and early-warning
systems; coordinated emergency preparedness plans; and public education
and involvement programs); (3) any need to revise NEHRP; and
(4) the management, coordination, implementation and activities of
NEHRP.

For more information on NEHRP, including biographical information
on the advisory committee members, go to www.nehrp.gov.

10. European Union
Closing the Innovation Gap with the U.S.

In February, the European Union (EU) announced that the "innovation
gap" between Europe and the United States continues to narrow
for the fourth year in a row. For the past several years, Congress
has considered the growing concern that the U.S. is losing its innovative
and competitive edge in the global market. Government and non-government
reports, as well as coalitions from industry, government and academic
sectors, have called upon Congress to increase funding for physical
science research and development (R&D) to ensure the nation's
competitive edge in an increasingly technology-driven global economy.
The EU and countries like China and India are committing record amounts
of funding to R&D, while the U.S. has been decreasing funding
for non-defense physical science R&D for many years.

As noted in the January 2007 Monthly Review, the Department of Energy
has seen significant decreases in energy R&D at a time when the
nation needs R&D to solve critical energy supply and demand issues.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on "Key Challenges
Remain for Developing and Deploying Advanced Energy Technologies to
Meet Future Needs" notes that "DOE's total budget authority
for energy R&D dropped by over 85 percent (in real terms) from
1978 to 2005 "

The European
Innovation Scoreboard 2006 (EIS), published in late February,
reinforces concerns about U.S. competitiveness. According to the report,
the innovation performance of a country's economy is based on a range
of indicators, including education levels, expenditures in the information
and communication technologies sector, investment in R&D, and
the number of patents filed. America's innovation edge is primarily
due to more early-stage venture capital, a larger fraction of the
population with a tertiary education and a larger number of U.S. patents.
According to the report, which presents a comparative analysis of
the innovation performance of the EU, the U.S. and Japan, the innovation
"leaders" are Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Denmark, Germany
and Japan. The innovation "followers" are the United Kingdom,
Iceland, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Ireland, and the United
States.

For more information about what Congress is considering related to
innovation and competitiveness see AGI's Government Affairs web page
on Innovation
and Competitiveness.

11. Commission Launches
European Research Council

On February 27, 2007, the European Commissioner for Science and Research,
Janez Potoznik, announced the formation of the European
Research Council (ERC). ERC will fund "research at the frontiers
of science" with an annual budget of about one billion euros.
The ERC will directly fund researchers, based on the scientific excellence
of their proposals. The ERC's Scientific Council - not the European
Commission, or anyone else - will be responsible for scientific strategy
and implementation and ERC operations will be autonomous, through
an Executive Agency. The ERC will offer two types of grants, one for
young principal investigators (2 to 9 years beyond their PhD) and
one for principal investigators who are considered top research leaders.
The grants will range from 100,000 to 500,000 euros over as long as
a 5 year time period. Candidates of any country or origin may apply,
however, they must be sponsored by a legally-recognized public or
private research organization situated in the European Union or associated
countries.

12. Nominations
for Presidential Science Awards

Each year, the President of the United States recognizes outstanding
mathematics and science teachers by honoring them with the Presidential
Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST).
Exemplary mathematics and science teachers from kindergarten through
12th grade are eligible for the award, which recognizes teachers from
the 50 states, Washington, D.C., Department of Defense Schools, Puerto
Rico, and the U.S. territories. PAEMST awardees are "a premier
group of highly qualified teachers who have both deep content knowledge
of the subjects they teach and the ability to motivate and enable
students to be successful in these areas."

The PAEMST program is administered by the National Science Foundation
(NSF) on behalf of the White House. Since the program's inception
in 1983, more than 3,700 awardees have been selected, with up to 108
awardees each year. In even-numbered years, the award is given to
elementary teachers; in odd-numbered years, secondary teachers are
recognized. To nominate a 7th-12th grade teacher, visit www.paemst.org;
applications are due by May 1, 2007.

13. Disaster Management
Starts With a Map

In response to a series of disasters that have beset the United States
in recent years, the National Research Council (NRC) has published
several studies that examine the research and development tools that
can help mitigate the risks and respond more effectively when a natural
disaster does occur. In February, the NRC published a new report entitled
"Successful
Response Starts with a Map: Improving Geospatial Support for Disaster
Management." The report emphasizes the need for accurate
geospatial data and tools in emergency situations. The report assesses
the status of the use of geospatial data, tools, and infrastructure
in disaster management, and recommends ways to increase and improve
their use.

14. Dignitaries
Urge Congress to Fund National Parks Centennial

More than 100 dignitaries signed their names to an open
letter to Congress urging them to support a sustained funding
effort to benefit the National Park Service in advance of its centennial
in 2016. Among the august signatories were former President Jimmy
Carter, former First Lady "Lady Bird" Johnson, former Vice
President Walter Mondale, Walter Cronkite, Warner Bros. President
and CEO Alan Horn, former Sen. Bennett Johnston (R-La.), author David
McCullough, actors Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Robert
Redford, media mogul Ted Turner, and former EPA Administrator Christie
Whitman.

"Fifty years ago, President Eisenhower launched Mission 66,
a 10-year, $1 billion dollar program approved by Congress that upgraded
park facilities, staffing and resource management capabilities throughout
the park system to commemorate its fiftieth anniversary in 1966,"
the letter states. "We are now calling on Congress to make a
proportional investment as we approach the 100th anniversary of the
National Park System."

15. AIPG/AGI Summer
Geoscience Policy Internships: Apply by March 15

AGI is seeking outstanding geoscience students and recent graduates
with a strong interest in federal science policy for a twelve-week
geoscience and public policy internship in summer 2007. Interns will
gain a first-hand understanding of the legislative process and the
operation of executive branch agencies. They will also hone their
writing and web-publishing skills. Stipends for the summer interns
are made possible through the generous support of the AIPG Foundation.
Applications must be postmarked by March 15, 2007. For more information,
please visit http://www.agiweb.org/gap/interns/internsu.html

Key Federal
Register Notices

NSF: The Division of Ocean Sciences in the Directorate for Geosciences
has prepared a draft Environmental Assessment for a low-energy marine
seismic survey by the Research Vessel Roger Revelle in the northeastern
Indian Ocean in international waters during May-August 2007. The draft
Environmental Assessment is available for public review for a 30-day
period. Comments must be submitted on or before March 9, 2007. For
more information, contact Dr. William Lang at (703) 292-7857 or visit
http://www.nsf.gov/geo/oce/pubs/Scripps_NE_Indian_Ocean_EA.pdf
[Federal Register: February 7, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 25)]

NOAA: NOAA announces a FY 2007 Broad Agency Announcement Request
for Extramural Research, Innovative Projects, and Sponsorships. Proposals
will be accepted on a rolling basis up to 5 p.m. ET September 28,
2007. Applications shall be evaluated for funding generally within
3 to 6 months of receipt. For further information, see http://www.grants.gov.
[Federal Register: February 20, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 33)]

CEQ: The Council on Environmental Quality requests comments on their
new publication, "A Citizen's Guide to the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA)." This is a guide to help citizens and organizations
who are concerned about the environmental effects of federal decision-making
to effectively participate in federal agencies' environmental review
process under NEPA. To view the guide, go to http://www.NEPA.gov.
Written comments should be submitted on or before March 30,
2007. For further information, contact Horst Greczmiel at 202-395-5750.
[Federal Register: February 21, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 34)]

NIST: The American Petroleum Institute announces its intent to develop
or revise standards and requests public comment and participation
in standards development. For more information, visit http://www.api.org.
[Federal Register: February 21, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 34)]

NSF: The National Science Board Commission on 21st Century Education
in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics will hold an
open meeting on Thursday, March 8, 2007, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. EST to
discuss a draft report. Room 1235 at the National Science Foundation,
4201 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, Virginia will be available to the public
to listen to this teleconference meeting. For more information, contact
Dr. Elizabeth Strickland at 703-292-4527 or by email: estrickl@nsf.gov.
[Federal Register: February 22, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 35)]

BLM- The Bureau of Land Management is soliciting comments on proposed
rulemaking related to regulations on surface management under the
Mining Law in 43 CFR subpart 3809. These regulations were challenged
because they did not require fair market value payment for the use
of Federal lands for mining operations when the lands are "invalidly
claimed" or unclaimed under the Mining Law. The court has ordered
these regulations to be re-evaluated. For more information, contact
Scott Haight at (406) 538-1930, for information relating to the surface
management program or the nature of the notice, or Ted Hudson at (202)
452-5042 for information relating to the rulemaking process generally.
Comments must be submitted by April 24, 2007.
[Federal Register: February 23, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 36)]

DoE- The Department of Energy (DOE) has decided to cancel the preparation
of a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for the assessment
of potential environmental impacts from DOE's Carbon Sequestration
Program, as described in a Notice of Intent published in the Federal
Register on April 21, 2004 (69 FR 21514). For further information,
contact Heino Beckert, National Energy Technology Laboratory, U.S.
Department of Energy, P.O. Box 880, Morgantown, WV 26507-0880, by
telephone (304) 285-4132, or electronic mail at heino.beckert@netl.doe.gov.
[Federal Register: February 26, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 37)]

USGS- The USGS-CCSP Committee for Synthesis and Assessment Product
3.4: Abrupt Climate Change will meet at the Hyatt Regency hotel in
Reston, Virginia on March 26-28, 2007. The goal of the workshop is
to produce a detailed outline of topics for consideration in the Synthesis
and Assessment Product and establish writing assignments. The agenda
will focus on the state of the science regarding the topic of ``abrupt
climate change.'' For further information and to pre-register, contact
John McGeehin (DFO), U.S. Geological Survey, 12201 Sunrise Valley
Drive, M.S. 926A, Reston, VA 20192, (703) 648-5349, mcgeehin@usgs.gov.
[Federal Register: February 26, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 37)]

Sources: New York Times, AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program,
Associated Press, Washington Post, Greenwire, E&E Daily, Library
of Congress, Congressional Quarterly, Department of the Interior,
House Committee on Appropriations, White House Office of Public Affairs,
Platts Inside Energy, U.S. Geological Survey, National Research Council
and Government Accountability Office.

**********************************************************************
This monthly review goes out to members of the AGI Government Affairs
Program (GAP) Advisory Committee, the leadership of AGI's member societies,
and other interested geoscientists as part of a continuing effort
to improve communications between GAP and the geoscience community
that it serves. Prior updates can be found on the AGI web site under
"Public Policy" <http://www.agiweb.org>.
For additional information on specific policy issues, please visit
the web site or contact us at <govt@agiweb.org> or (703) 379-2480,
ext. 228.

Please send any comments or requests for information to AGI Government
Affairs Program.